Canadian ‘Buyback’ Not Voluntary. The Term is ‘Voluntold.’

February 5, 2026
10:06 am

▶

Listen to Article

Imagine calling a government-mandated confiscation program a buyback and slapping voluntary on it like it's a bake sale. Canada's semi-automatic rifle buyback—pushed through after the 2020 Nova Scotia shooting—has been exposed as anything but optional. Owners of now-prohibited firearms face fines up to $50,000, jail time, or both if they don't comply by the deadlines, turning voluntarily surrendering your property into being voluntold. It's classic bureaucratic sleight-of-hand: the program dangles compensation (often insultingly low, averaging around $1,000 per rifle after appraisals that undervalue custom builds and heirlooms), but skips the part where refusal means the state treats you like a criminal. Participation rates? Pathetic—less than 10% of targeted firearms turned in so far, per government data, with many Canadians quietly ignoring the whole charade or smuggling guns south of the border. This isn't just maple-leaf-flavored overreach; it's a masterclass in how gun controllers erode rights one euphemism at a time. Remember Australia's 1996 buyback? Sold as voluntary too, but backed by registration and threats, it netted compliance through fear, not choice—leaving a black market that thrives today. Canada's playbook mirrors it: first demonize semi-autos as assault weapons, ban them overnight without grandfathering, then buy them back while ignoring the 99.9% non-criminal ownership rate. The implications for America's 2A community are stark—watch Biden's ATF pistol brace rule or the endless assault weapon ban pushes. If shall not be infringed warriors don't call out these semantic games, we'll wake up voluntold to hand over our ARs for pennies. Time to double down on state-level nullification, lawsuits like those from the Firearms Policy Coalition, and voting out enablers. Canada's flop proves compliance is a choice, resistance is the default—let's keep it that way stateside. The real buyback happening? Canadians' trust in government gun-grabbing, sold at a fire-sale price. Stay vigilant, stock up legally, and support orgs like the NRA or GOA pushing back. Your Second Amendment isn't voluntary either—it's the firewall.

Best FFL Software Ranked and Compared!

Imagine calling a government-mandated confiscation program a buyback and slapping voluntary on it like it’s a bake sale. Canada’s semi-automatic rifle buyback—pushed through after the 2020 Nova Scotia shooting—has been exposed as anything but optional. Owners of now-prohibited firearms face fines up to $50,000, jail time, or both if they don’t comply by the deadlines, turning voluntarily surrendering your property into being voluntold. It’s classic bureaucratic sleight-of-hand: the program dangles compensation (often insultingly low, averaging around $1,000 per rifle after appraisals that undervalue custom builds and heirlooms), but skips the part where refusal means the state treats you like a criminal. Participation rates? Pathetic—less than 10% of targeted firearms turned in so far, per government data, with many Canadians quietly ignoring the whole charade or smuggling guns south of the border.

This isn’t just maple-leaf-flavored overreach; it’s a masterclass in how gun controllers erode rights one euphemism at a time. Remember Australia’s 1996 buyback? Sold as voluntary too, but backed by registration and threats, it netted compliance through fear, not choice—leaving a black market that thrives today. Canada’s playbook mirrors it: first demonize semi-autos as assault weapons, ban them overnight without grandfathering, then buy them back while ignoring the 99.9% non-criminal ownership rate. The implications for America’s 2A community are stark—watch Biden’s ATF pistol brace rule or the endless assault weapon ban pushes. If shall not be infringed warriors don’t call out these semantic games, we’ll wake up voluntold to hand over our ARs for pennies. Time to double down on state-level nullification, lawsuits like those from the Firearms Policy Coalition, and voting out enablers. Canada’s flop proves compliance is a choice, resistance is the default—let’s keep it that way stateside.

The real buyback happening? Canadians’ trust in government gun-grabbing, sold at a fire-sale price. Stay vigilant, stock up legally, and support orgs like the NRA or GOA pushing back. Your Second Amendment isn’t voluntary either—it’s the firewall.

Share this story